white noise
by a warrior queen
Summary: It's cold outside, is there someone there tonight? —Kakashi-centric.


**dedication: **to sleep because wOW if i don't need it.  
**summary: **It's cold outside, is there someone there tonight?  
**notes: **Sometimes, I feel like exploring other characters. This was heavily inspired by this comic going around Tumblr and then I just decided I needed to break hearts.

**white noise  
**

_i._

"Puh," Anko scoffed, throwing her head back and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "What a bunch of wussies."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her, turning towards her line of vision and observing as the majority of their peers were hanging out with their parents, holding their hands or riding on their shoulders and other such nonsense. He pursed his lips, under his mask, and looked away, his own look of complete annoyance on his face.

Anko spat in the direction of the crowd and sharply turned around, stomping away without another word.

He, though, looked down at the ground and walked around without an actual destination.

_ii._

It wasn't until he had settled into heading to the training grounds that he sensed someone behind him, sensed someone reaching to touch one of his tensed shoulders.

Kakashi turned his head to stare over his shoulder, a glare in his eyes and his annoyance—though without a cause—bubbling in under his skin. All of this, of course, dispersed at the sight of Minato-sensei's pretty red-headed girlfriend; there was no way anyone could even aim their anger—misplaced or not—to someone who held such softness like she did, in her violet eyes.

"Kakashi-kun," she greeted, her smile bright and her presence soothing.

He nodded, mostly because he didn't know what to address her by and really not because he thought she was very pretty and very nice and very dumb to be dating Minato-sensei.

"Would you like to come have lunch with me?" She tilted her head in that humble way of hers and Kakashi watched how her hair looked like blood in the air under the sun. "We can have ramen and steamed rice and—anything you'd like!"

Kakashi swallowed, "I don't need your pity, Uzumaki-san."

"Ha!" She laughed, throwing her head back before peering down at him, jutting a hip out and pointing a finger at him. "Don't be silly. I want to do this—been meaning to do this, actually! Hasn't Minato told you?"

"No."

Kushina twitched, looking away from him as she muttered some things under her breath before returning her attention to him. "Well, whatever. Let's have lunch, hm? I'm starving and I would love the company."

Kakashi studied her—her and her warm violet eyes and bright smile and the ghost of a blush on her high cheekbones. Her long red hair and her posture that was a cross of humble and arrogant and he quietly wondered how she could be both. Minato-sensei had told stories about how crazy Uzumaki Kushina was and, even if he'd get this dazed goofy look as he would tell it, he'd never miss a detail.

This lady beat up all her bullies.

But… But…

He swallowed, his eyes softening and a little hope bubbling somewhere around his chest.

"Well?" she asked, extending her hand out and grinning at him, crookedly.

_iii._

"Whattaya think you're doing, punk?"

Kakashi rubbed at the sore spot on his head, looking up at Minato-sensei's look of doom as he loomed over him, his blue eyes almost deadly. Who the hell did he think he was, Kakashi wondered as he continued to furiously rub at his head, puffing his cheeks up and glaring at him.

"Don't you have somewhere to be, 'Kashi?"

"No."

"_Minato_!"

As if realizing what he'd done and who he did it in front of, Minato-sensei's entire expression softened and Kakashi was positive he was beginning to sweat. He straightened up, one hand still massaging his head as he observed the great Minato-sensei become a complete push-over in front of his girlfriend.

"A-ah, Kushina!"

She stomped her way until she closed the distance between them, her hair flying everywhere. She then shot up on her tippy-toes and began to jab one of her fingers against his chest as she hissed, "Don't you dare be mean to Kakashi-kun! He's _my guest_ and we're going to have ramen and steamed rice and other stuff and you are welcomed to join but Kakashi-kun is more important!"

"Y-yes, I know—"

"Then stop being mean to him and walk with us, stupid!"

Minato-sensei gulped, inhaling and exhaling and nodding his head. "Yeah, okay, fine."

"Come on, Kakashi-kun," Kushina cooed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and leading him away.

Kakashi grinned, under his mask, wiggling his eyebrows at Minato before leaning into Kushina's embrace.

"Ah no you don't!" Minato-sensei growled, placing a hand on Kakashi's head and squeezing at his crown. "_I'm_ still her favorite."

_iv._

It became a ritual.

Kushina would always smile, Minato-sensei would glower before forgetting about his act and smiling just as warmly as his girlfriend and Kakashi would secretly soak it all up, eating his ramen and his steamed rice and quietly replying when Kushina would ask him questions and silently conversing with Minato-sensei when they'd talk about training or a mission.

He _didn't_ like to admit it, not even to himself, but it felt nice. It felt great to feel like he was part of a family.

_v._

Kakashi searched for Kushina after the mission gone wrong where Obito died.

He was breathless and he tried to explain but he kept stumbling over his words, unable to process everything because now he had a Sharingan eye, hiding under his hitai-ate and—and Rin was crying and Minato-sensei looked devastated and only _he_ could tell because he knew him so well and—and—

Kushina shushed him, softly, holding him against her in a loose embrace, just in case he wanted to break away and regain his own space. But Kakashi leaned his forehead against her stomach and tried to remember how to breathe. Her touché was gentle when she pried at his hitai-ate so she could inspect his new eye.

"Once," she said, softly, "I lost my entire home and my entire family, too."

_vi._

He didn't say anything when Rin died.

She held him and Kakashi held his hands at his side, too afraid of staining her with the blood dripping from his hands.

_vii._

When Kushina got pregnant and Minato-sensei became the Fourth Hokage, Kakashi silently vowed he'd teach the little runt everything he knew.

He only placed his hand on Kushina's womb once.

_viii._

And then they died.

Just like that, they were dead and Kakashi felt so damn alone all over again and it took all he had to not let it all slip out—he couldn't _do that_ because he was Hatake Kakashi, White Fang's son and he needed to stay level-headed. He needed to breathe. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth and looked down at the ground.

It was October tenth and everything went back to the way it was at the start.

_ix._

He stared at his new students—the prodigy, the smartass and the dead last.

Kakashi was older, now, more in control of everything because to allow your demons, your darkness, your sadness take the best of you was death in this career and Kakashi had so many things he had to do before he died. Even up to that day, he didn't exactly know what those things were since everyone that he absolutely cared for were dead.

But there was this smile in the blond student of his.

Big and bright and crooked.

He knew that smile.


End file.
